At the formal wear shop, Jewel found an ivory lace knee length dress. The dress was so lovely and there were no seams up the backs of the stockings. She’d almost choked when she finally saw the price tag, but Glenn insisted she buy it. She felt cherished. Beautiful. The sales clerk helped her brush her hair to a coppery gleam and apply a little makeup and lipstick.
“While you were in there getting ready, I popped out to the corner flower shop.” He handed her a simple bouquet of pink roses tied with an ivory bow and a white gardenia. “I remembered that you liked flowers that smell. The flower shop guy said that these are the best smelling.”
She accepted it, put it behind her ear, and secured it with a bobby pin. The flower’s lovely fragrance wafted to her nose and she smiled.
He grinned. “So it’s not bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding?”
“That’s an old wives tale, and besides, I don’t believe in bad luck anymore.”
The formal shop carried a few suits. Luckily, there was one was in Glenn’s perfect size.
He came out of the dressing room and pulled on his shirt’s white cuffs. “I can’t get these straight,” he complained.
Jewel helped with his cuffs and then tied his tie. She smiled as she stood on her tip toes.
“What?” he asked, possibly reading the amusement in her eyes.
“I’ve never seen you in anything but your Navy dress blues. I think I’m going to like this century. You look good enough to eat.”
He grinned a naughty smile. “Why Miss Miller, are you propositioning me?”
“What if I am?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Then I’d have to whisk you away and marry you so you can finish propositioning me.”
She laughed, as he paid the woman at the counter for their purchases.
“Are you guys getting married today?” The sales clerk asked.
“We sure are, miss. Today I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” Glenn snaked an arm around Jewel’s waist and pulled her close.
They tried to get a marriage license, but with Jewel missing her proper picture identification they couldn’t apply. She knew that the officials wouldn’t believe her time-travel story, so finally they gave up. Glenn slapped the brick wall outside the courthouse and grumbled, “Well… hell. I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Come on. Don’t be mad, we’ll work things out.”
“Let’s talk to the man who owns the wedding chapel. Hopefully, he has some ideas,” Glenn squeezed her hand and pulled her out onto the sidewalk.
After they’d talked with the man who owned the place, he agreed to do the ceremony only if Jewel and Glenn both agreed to sign documents stating the ceremony would be invalid. Without a license, it was all he could do.
Glenn lifted the pen and frowned as he stared at the piece of paper. “I wanted this to be real. Official, you know?”
Jewel laughed as she waited for him to sign his name and then took the pen and signed hers. “It’s real.”
“I’m sorry. We’ll make it official the second we can. Hadley can get you a new ID. I’ve seen his. If he can get a new identification, you can. He’s from a hundred years ago and England to boot. But the ceremony will be official to us, right?”
She cut him off. “No more excuses.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the altar. “Would you get over here and let the man do his duties?”
The white-haired man read the wedding vows and waited for Glenn to slip the diamond wedding band over Jewel’s finger, a dark blue sapphire circled with tiny diamonds. When the man asked if she had a ring, she looked up and met Glenn’s gaze.
“I don’t have a ring, so this will have to do.” She reached in her pocket. Taking his hand, she dropped the contents into Glenn’s palm.
He stared down. “My lucky rabbit’s foot. You kept it.” The emotions on his face were so stark and raw, Jewel’s vision blurred with tears.
“The last night I saw you, you put it in my pocket. I almost threw it out. I thought it didn’t work, and you were gone. I guess I was the one who was wrong.”
The man shook his head and mumbled under his breath, “This is a crazy ceremony,” then said, “I pronounce you un-official husband and wife.”
“I’ll take that for now!” Glenn grabbed her and kissed her until she couldn’t breathe.
Chapter Eleven
Jewel was so happy she felt as though she walked on air. They grabbed some food at the corner deli and a bottle of champagne. Glenn set the bag down outside the apartment, opened the door and then whisked her off her feet to carry her inside.
When he set her down and went to get the groceries, she slowly walked around the apartment. Touching the couch she said, “I’ve been here.”
“In our dream?”
“Our dream… you know how crazy that sounds? But, it’s true. I’ve been here before, with you.”
“But this isn’t a dream.” He came to her and drew her to him giving her the kiss she’d been craving all afternoon. Glenn slipped his hands into her hair and held her as if he didn’t want her to escape. Taking the kiss to a more sensual level, she wondered what satisfaction would finally feel like.
They only broke apart long enough for him to turn on some kind of a record player in a square little box that he said played music. “It’s called an MP3 and very handy.” He tipped it towards her so she could see the tiny screen. “I put this song on it and every time I hear it, I thought… dreamed of this moment.”
He pressed a button and over the speakers came the song, I’ll be Seeing You. He quirked a finger. “Come here Mrs. Miller.” Glenn pulled her close and sang into her ear, “Who knows if we shall meet again? But when the morning chimes ring sweet again... I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places.”
“I always thought our song was Moonlight Serenade, but I guess this will be our song now. The lyrics are a little ironic don’t you think?” She snuggled close relishing in the warmth of his body.
“Just a bit.” He tipped her chin and kissed her sweetly. “I never thought I’d get the chance to see you again. I’m afraid you’ll disappear any second.”
“Then you better hold on to me tightly.”
“No one knows what the future will bring. If we were still in 1942, I would have died on my ship. This truly is a second chance. I swear, I’ll never waste another second of our life together.” Glenn tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
The kiss turned heated. Electricity curled through her body. She never imagined feeling anything again, much less this love so deep it shook her to the core.
Stepping back, he said, “You’ve been through more than a little today. I don’t want to push anything. If you want to wait…”
She let out a laugh. “You’re kidding, aren’t you? What was all that about ‘never wasting another second’? Where’s the bedroom?”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” He grinned, took her hand, and led her down the hall. It was a simple room, with a chair, a dresser, and a bed. Glenn was always a simple and truthful man, two of the things she liked best about him. He dimmed the light on the dresser. The lamp lit the gold in his hair. Slowly he came toward her. He turned her so he could slide the zipper down her wedding dress. It fell off her shoulders and pooled at her ankles. He kissed her neck as he undid the clasp and eased off her bra and panties.
When she turned, he looked at her with such complete love, her heart skipped a beat. Quickly he stripped off his shirt, trousers, socks and shoes until he stood before her.
Heat rose in her cheeks. “I’m still a virgin… just… for the record.”
“For the record, me too.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
As he drew her close, Jewel felt Glenn’s heart beat
violently against her chest. This told her that even though he was trying to seem self-assured, he was possibly almost as nervous as she was.
“This night should be perfect,” he said.
“It will be.”
“I want to be the lover you’ve always wanted.”
“I’ve never wanted anyone but you.”
He gently kissed her and ran finger across her cheek and then down to trail across her breast. “You’re so damn beautiful. When my ship when down, I got tangled in the decking cables and pulled under the water. I remembered that your picture was still in my pocket. I couldn’t get my hand free, but I didn’t need to see it, your face was etched into my mind forever. You were the last thing I wanted to remember. So many of my shipmates… I felt the water in my lungs.” He closed his eyes and swallowed audibly.
She laid her head on his warm, bare chest. The coarse hair brushed her cheek and she hugged him close. “You’re here with me now. Make love to me and wash the bad memories away with good ones.”
He nodded and led her to the bed. He flipped back the covers and waited until she lay down before he joined her. She tried to pull up the sheets, but he stopped her hand. “Let me look at you.” She let him draw the covers away. She held her breath until she saw the look of total appreciation on his face. She relaxed. He flattened his palm on her belly and then kissed her hair, whispering again, “You’re so beautiful.”
“I convinced myself that you were gone but the dreams felt real.” Glenn had literally moved the heavens and earth to bring her to him. Jewel trailed fingers across his bicep and squeezed. The muscles beneath her touch jumped.
“This is why our dreams stopped us. This is how it is supposed to be, in this time.”
Glenn kissed his way down to her achy breast. He lifted her arms over her head, kissed the tip and then took her nipple between his lips. He removed his mouth from one side and moved to the other. His rough chin rubbed over the ultra-sensitive tips. She held his head against her. She wanted more.
She wanted him feel the same heated desire that pooled in her belly. She wiggled her hand free from his grasp anxious to feel the silky hard length of him that pressed against her thigh. He pulled in a sharp intake of breath. Jewel liked him in her palm. Warm steel. She stroked him from base to tip as he pressed into her grasp.
“If I wasn’t already dead… I’d say you were going to be the death of me. This is going to be over before it begins if you keep doing that. It’s all too good.” He chuckled, removed her hand and then slid up and over her. “This is the moment of truth. If this is one of our dreams then it’s going to stop right about… now.” He slipped in the first few inches. He stopped at her barrier. “You’re sure about this… I mean, we’re not officially married.”
“We’re married… and it will be official soon enough. Please… don’t make me beg. Make me your wife.”
He pressed forward and deep inside her. “Oh… God…” he groaned. “It’s not a dream. Not this time. Are you okay?” He brushed the hair off her face and looked concerned.
“I’m fine. But you need to move or I’m going to be the one who dies. Please,” she pleaded again. There was a twinge of pain, but it quickly subsided. For a moment all she felt was the trembling of their bodies as he held himself above her. “Don’t hold back. Show me how you feel. I need to feel this after so many months of not feeling anything. I was the one who was dead inside.”
That seemed to be encouragement he needed. He territorially rammed his hips forward until he’d filled her completely. With each stroke, he made her his. Only his. Glenn pumped his hips as he suckled the side of her neck. “You feel so good. God… so good.”
She moaned and wound her arms around his neck. He pulled her knees up so he could angle impossibly deeper. She ran hands over the hard, bunched muscles of his back as he strained inside her. Their breathing increased. A tingling started in her breasts, ran down her spine and settled between her thighs. Jewel moved her hips and Glenn groaned, closing his eyes. The empowerment of giving him pleasure fueled her. She moved again, this time clenching her thighs tight to his hips.
His eyes opened. They were glazed with love and passion… for her. She’s spent the last few months trying to forget him. How could she ever forget his face… he was so handsome. She grasped his face in her hands and kissed him with what she hoped was all the love and passion that she felt.
Snaking a hand between them, he touched her. It only took a few caresses before fiery pleasure erupted. She shattered to tiny fragments. Never had anything felt this good.
With a few more deep thrusts, he threw his head back, moaned and followed her over the edge.
Holding her close, he rolled off and pulled her against him. Laying her head on his chest she felt his heart thunder against the side of her face and smiled.
“That was amazing…” he said and wiped a hand over his damp forehead.
“That was amazing for someone who said they’ve never done this before.”
“I haven’t but… in this time there are channels that you can watch, well, like movies. People do all kinds of things. I guess once in a while I’ve been taking notes for when I needed them. Don’t be mad.”
“Glenn!” She slapped his bare chest.
“Hey,” he said with a wicked grin. He toyed with the sheets over her bare breasts. “I didn’t hear you complaining. And let’s just say, I’ve picked up more tips than what you just saw. When I get my strength back, I’ll show you what else I learned.”
“Seriously, in this time, how different are things?” She looked up at him. “Will I be able to adjust? What about the war we were in?”
“I guess you can say that we won, though I don’t think there are really any ‘winners’ in war. You’ll adjust as I have. In this time, you pay for things with little plastic cards, there are still wars, and a man’s walked on the moon.”
“You’re pulling my leg.” Then she read his face. “Seriously? Wow…” She shook her head in disbelief.
He took her chin and tipped her face. “With you here, it finally feels… right. Real. Different but the same. I’ve loved you for over seventy years; care to try for another seventy Mrs. Miller?”
“How about a hundred. Time doesn’t seem to matter but no matter what time it is I know I’ll always love you.”
Glenn whispered, “I love you, too.”
Now everything was the way it should be.
Jewel Rose Miller
Glenn Miller
Lost at Sea in the
South Pacific
1942
He was born in Kansas
and during his short life
he loved my mother
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Conner is a best-selling Northwest author who has over thirty short stories on ebook and two full-length book in print. She writes in Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, and Erotica.
Jennifer is an Associate Publisher for the indie e-book company Books to Go Now that resides in the Seattle area. Books to Go Now offers professional editing, cover design, multiple book format file creation, and most important--publicity. Their staff works to help make our author books a success one book at a time.
I'll Be Seeing You Through Time (The Dimension Keepers) Page 7